KASEY KAHNE TAKES BRICKYARD 400 TITLE

In what seemed like the race that would never end and increasingly empty stands as even the spectators wore down watching caution after caution and mother natures outbursts, Kasey Kahne emerged from a wreck-filled Brickyard 400 on Sunday to capture an overtime victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Kahne held on through three big wrecks in the final 50 laps, a nearly two-hour delay for stormy weather and approaching darkness to grab his first win since 2014, a winless skid of 102 races.

Kahne’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet crossed the overtime line just before the caution flag came out with Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota spinning behind him.

Brad Keselowski finished second in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford. Ryan Newman, Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.

Two final big wrecks — the first with 11 scheduled laps remaining and the second in NASCAR Overtime on Lap 162 — brought out red flags for cleanup.

The first came when Clint Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford got loose, slammed hard into the interior wall and spun multiple times, collecting the cars of Kurt Busch, Erik Jones and Jamie McMurray along the way.

That stoppage turned what was shaping up to be a fuel-mileage finish into a shootout ending.

In all, the race featured three red flags, the first for 1 hour, 47 minutes for lightning and rain, the second for cleanup of the Lap 149 Bowyer wreck that lasted about 20 minutes, and the final for cleanup of the NASCAR Overtime Lap 162 wreck that lasted 24 minutes.

The 167-lap race featured seven leaders and 17 cautions.

Kyle Busch won both Stage 1 and Stage 2 to bump his season total to seven stage wins.

The Monster Energy Series next heads to Pocono Raceway for the Overton’s 400 on Sunday, July 30 at 3 p.m. ET